A/N: So, my sister's been here with me, and she's been helping me come up with a Myth Arc for this series of fics (a story that pulls all the stories together and has been hinted at in the individual stories), which I plan to implement after the ByaYuzu sequel (unless the canon completely ruins my day by releasing details that make everything I'm theorizing irrelevant). If you guys are still on board with me then, it might be fun!

Those of you waiting on the Trials update, I really really want to finish this arc first before starting on that, so I can get these chapters out while they're still fresh. This was meant to be the last chapter, but I had to split it into two. After this arc is done, though, there will definitely be at least one Trials update.

Lilith Jae, more Orihime than Karin, but you'll see exactly why later on, when it becomes clear what she was planning to do~

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. At all.

Chapter 42: The capital of the moon

The two swords crashed together, catching each other on three identical slashes before springing apart. Urahara watched as both swordswomen landed on the ground, their swords in their hands as they turned to face each other. As one, they moved, charging forward across the training grounds. They brought their swords up at the exact same time, the resounding clash ringing inside the training area. They were evenly matched, because they were exactly the same.

The shopkeeper stood on an outcrop of rock overlooking the battle, his hands on the cane in front of him. A gust of wind blew upwards from the battle, blowing his coat back and threatening to pull his hat from his head. His eyes fixed on the duel below him, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Very interesting.

It was difficult to tell which of the two women fighting below was the zanpakuto spirit and which one was the wielder. They both wore shihakushos, and were exactly the same height, with the exact same hair, eyes, and face. They held the same white-hilted katanas in both hands, moved at the same speed, and executed the same cuts. They even held the same expression.

His grip tightened on Benihime unconsciously, his thumb brushing against the handle of the cane. A zanpakuto spirit was meant to be a representation of one's soul, the sum total of all the parts of oneself a shinigami usually kept hidden. He thought of his Benihime, the crimson princess holding court in her ruined hall, amid screens stained with blood.

He wondered what it said about Kurosaki Yuzu that her zanpakuto spirit chose to appear as herself, or rather, as the mirror-image version of herself.

Very interesting indeed, he thought, as the two swords came together again, only to come apart as the wielders barely missed each other.

The Muken was a dark place, carved deep into the earth beneath the First Division. In this place, the sounds and pleas from the prisoners on the other levels had gone completely silent. There was no sound here, no movement, and almost no light. It was as if while the other levels of the prison had been meant for punishment, the Muken had been meant to erase a prisoner's existence entirely, to forget that they had ever lived.

Aizen Sosuke was the only prisoner in recent history who had been sentenced to this place. His cell stood alone on the other end of a long corridor, a steel door bolted into the rock. A small window cut into the door was the only way of looking into the cell, bars in the window preventing the prisoner from doing anything but perhaps hold his hand out. The walls were made of Sekkiseki, and Karin could feel the stone's powers start to work on her reiatsu as she made her way towards the cell, the stone's properties making it feel as though each step was being made in water.

There were no guards at this level, besides the two that had come in with her. In the Muken, there didn't need to be.

The prisoner, seated near the back of the cell, looked up as Karin lowered the scythe she was holding, the point stabbing into the rock with a loud crash. Karin stared into the cell, her eyes narrowed as Aizen got to his feet, the one eye that wasn't covered meeting hers. He looked over her for a moment, an expression of slight puzzlement on his face.

"Do I…know you?" he asked.

His voice cracked slightly with disuse, but the sound of it still sent a chill up her spine. Karin told herself it was because of everything she had heard about this man, not because of any inherent power he possessed. She glared at him, her expression unchanging.

"No," he said. "But you know my brother."

"Ah, yes, the spare," said Aizen, smiling slightly. "My apologies, Karin, but it is occasionally difficult to keep track of all the permutations in the implementation of a single plan." His eyes moved over her, taking in the scythe in her hands and the uniform she was wearing. "I see you've come into your own regardless."

"I'm not here to chit-chat," said Karin, her eyes narrowing as she tightened her grip on Ongetsu's shaft. "I'm here because I was wondering something."

"Is that so?" asked Aizen. He smiled at her. "Do enlighten me."

"That immortality of yours," said Karin, opening her hand and resting the palm lightly on the scythe's shaft. "It's just another form of kido, isn't it?"

"Are you implying that that scythe of yours could kill me?" asked Aizen. He took a step back, raising his hands in an inviting gesture. "You're welcome to try."

Karin removed her hand from the scythe, letting it fall to her side. "Nice try," she said. "But I'm not stupid. Besides." The corner of her mouth quirked up, a small grin that bared her teeth. "I have a feeling you'd want that."

"Perhaps," said Aizen, still smiling. "But tell me, Kurosaki Karin. If you aren't here to kill me, why are you here?"

"To warn you," said Karin, her eyes narrowing again. "We're going to defeat Kyoka Suigetsu. That'll put a stop to your plan. And the next time one of your plans threatens my family—." She picked up Ongetsu suddenly, pushing down with one hand as she snatched it up and pointed the scythe at Aizen. "We get to see if my Ongetsu can cut you, and we get to see it slowly. Are we clear?"

Aizen blinked, staring at her. "Kyoka…Suigetsu…?" he asked.

Karin's glare faltered, the tip of her scythe lowering for just a moment. Aizen stared at her, comprehension slowly dawning on his face. His eyes widened, and then, to her surprise, he suddenly threw back his head, letting out a loud laugh. The guards to either side of her stepped forward, hands on their swords as Aizen continued to laugh, the sound echoing against the walls of the prison.

"What the hell—?" Karin began, taking a step forward.

"I see," said Aizen, straightening up. He turned away, his eyes still shining with mirth as he turned his back towards her. "This interview is over, Kurosaki Karin. I have nothing more to do with that relic."

"Hey!" said Karin, taking a step forward as Aizen walked away. "You don't get to decide when we're done!"

"I believe I do," said Aizen, continuing to walk back to the far wall of his cell. "You've given me all the information I require. Thank you for coming all this way to do that, Kurosaki Karin. Gentlemen." He nodded at the guards, almost conversationally, and continued to walk, turning his back towards her.

Karin scowled at Aizen's words, clenching her hands into fists.

"Well, what did you think was going to happen?" asked Toshiro as the two of them walked through the streets together, heading back from the prisons. The captain of the Tenth had waited outside the First Division for her, having authorized her visit. Karin scowled in frustration, tightening her grip on Ongetsu's sheath.

"I was hoping he'd let something slip about Kyoka Suigetsu," she said, keeping her eyes on the street in front of her. Her mind went back to her conversation with Aizen, to the way the former captain had reacted to what she had said. "Maybe he did."

"Aizen doesn't 'let things slip'," said Toshiro, frowning. "And if he does, I wouldn't trust it."

"I figured that out when I was down there," said Karin. She let out a breath in frustration, running a hand through her hair. "Dammit, Toshiro, I messed this up, didn't I?"

"I don't see how," said Toshiro, glancing at her. "You might have given him information, but it isn't as if he's in a position where he can use it. Not even Aizen can get out of Muken."

"This is Aizen," said Karin, looking back at him. "Isn't his specialty doing impossible things?"

Toshiro's eyes darkened and he paused, glancing behind him at the building that housed the First Division. "That's true," he said. "But…"

"But not something we can worry about now," Karin finished. "Yeah, I know, I get it." She started walking again and Toshiro followed her, the two of them setting off at a steady pace past the Third Division. As they walked, Karin frowned in thought, thinking back to that conversation again. "If I did tell him about Kyoka Suigetsu, and he just found out about it today, then that does mean she's acting on her own. That's one less thing to worry about, at least."

"Maybe," said Toshiro, glancing down at the ground. "She's already proven that she can be dangerous. But if she and Aizen aren't on the same page…we can use that. Somehow."

"Don't look at me," said Karin, lacing her fingers together at the back of her neck. "You're the one that comes up with the plans. I just hit things."

"It would help if we knew where she was," said Toshiro as the two of them rounded a corner, cutting across the Third Division's district and moving towards Sixth. "Having her vanish and reappear the way she does makes it difficult to plan our next move. As long as she controls when and where we meet, she has the advantage."

"Isn't Urahara-san working on that?" asked Karin, her frown deepening as she looked back at her boyfriend. "Or did I hear wrong?"

"Urahara Kisuke is another dangerous personality to work with," said Toshiro, moving past her as they ducked into an alley. "I don't—."

A gust of wind blew down the street, accompanied by a pulse of reiatsu. Karin and Toshiro stopped suddenly as it blew past them, their eyes widening in surprise as they turned towards the source. The Sixth Division's gates opened suddenly, swinging on their hinges as a shinigami darted through. Karin caught sight of a white haori and a scarf streaming in the wind, saw dark hair and wide gray eyes before the shinigami vanished, flash-stepping from sight. His reiatsu lingered as he left, power crackling like static in the air around them.

She exchanged a glance with Toshiro and noticed that he looked just as confused as she was. "That was…" she began.

"…Kuchiki-taicho." Toshiro finished.

"Wasn't he injured?" asked Karin.

"He was," said Toshiro. "In the betrayal. I think he had a letter in his hand."

Karin frowned, thinking back to the number of times she had encountered Byakuya in the past, at Ichigo and Rukia's wedding and during the times she had visited Yuzu. She'd seen him cold, upset, whatever passed for happy in his limited emotional range, melancholy, confused, and pissed off. But she didn't think she had ever seen him like that before. He looked alarmed.

No. More than that. He looked afraid.

And she didn't want to imagine what Kuchiki Byakuya would be afraid of.

"Toshiro…" she said. "I don't like this."

"Mm. Me neither," said Toshiro, nodding.

Karin took a deep breath, looking from Toshiro to the Sixth. "I'm gonna go find Yuzu," she said, taking a step forward. "Maybe she knows what's going on."

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Toshiro, glancing at her.

"No." She exhaled slowly, feeling something cold settle into the pit of her stomach. "But maybe you should go find Ichi-nii." She placed a hand on Ongetsu's hilt, noticing for the first time the tension contained there, as if her zanpakuto spirit was as worried as she was.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said.

Their swords clashed a first, second, and third time before they sprang apart again, both of them landing on the bare stone of Urahara's training ground. Yuzu tightened her grip on her sword, breathing heavily. Across from her, Jungetsu did the same, mimicking her posture. The only difference between her and her zanpakuto spirit, it seemed, was that Jungetsu didn't appear to be nearly as tired.

She took a breath before charging forward again, raising her sword and aiming a slash at Jungetsu's shoulder. Jungetsu raised her blade in an exact mirror of Yuzu's, and the two swords slid against each other, their guards locking as both wielders eyed themselves over the crossed blades. There was a pulse of reiatsu as they both shoved against each other with equal power, springing apart and sliding backwards in the air. Yuzu grit her teeth, eyeing her zanpakuto spirit. Jungetsu looked back at her, her expression impassive. She held her sword out before her, in the exact same position as Yuzu's.

"Is this the limit of your resolve, Yuzu?" Jungetsu asked, her voice cool.

"Hardly," Yuzu replied, pausing to catch her breath before charging forward again.

"This device is called the Tenshintai," Urahara Kisuke had said, holding a hand out to steady the vaguely human-shaped doll he had placed in front of her. "If you stab this with your zanpakuto, it will forcibly manifest your zanpakuto spirit, allowing you to challenge them for your bankai. However, do be warned, the effect only lasts three days, and zanpakuto spirits summoned in this way tend not to hold back." He raised his head, his mouth curving up in a smirk as he watched her.

"Are you sure this is the road you want to take, Yuzu?"

Yuzu took a deep breath, her sword in her hands as she stared at the doll in front of her. Her conversation with Jungetsu played out in her mind again. The only way to reach Kyoka Suigetsu was to achieve bankai. The only way to defeat Kyoka Suigetsu was to reach her.

The only way to keep her family safe was to make sure that Kyoka Suigetsu couldn't hurt anyone again.

She exhaled, taking a step forward. As the tip her sword pierced the Tenshintai, it began to glow, its form changing as it shrank in on itself. The light around it faded as the shape solidified, taking Jungetsu's form. Instead of wearing the white kimono that Yuzu was used to seeing her in, her zanpakuto spirit was dressed in a shihakusho that looked identical to her own, holding an identical blade in her right hand. Urahara's brows rose in interest at the sight of her zanpakuto spirit, and behind her, Yoruichi tilted her head, watching from her position against a rock.

Jungetsu took a step forward, lowering her sword to her side. Her eyes met Yuzu's, and she opened her mouth to speak. Her voice rang out clearly, with none of the strain that had accompanied it the last time she had heard it.

"My rules for this battle are simple," she said. "You must defeat me before I reward you with a bankai. And you must do it with sword alone."

Sword alone…

Yuzu swung at Jungetsu's head, their blades clashing as her zanpakuto spirit executed an identical slash. She let the blades slide off each other, quickly reversing the cut as her blade slipped free of Jungetsu's. Jungetsu did the same thing, however, and their blades clashed together again, neither of them landing a hit on the other. She pulled back, lowering her sword to her side and cutting upwards, just beneath Jungetsu's guard. Jungetsu lowered her sword and did the same, and Yuzu sprang back, her eyes wide as she narrowly dodged a cut in the arm. As she moved, Jungetsu's sword bit into her forearm, the tip barely grazing her. At the same time, she felt her own blade catch on something.

The two of them sprang apart in the air, landing on a pair of rock spires that rose up from the earth. Yuzu glanced at her left arm, her eyes wide. A line of blood had opened up on her forearm, blood trickling down her arm to her hand. At the same time, the tip of her blade was wet, and as she looked across from her, she saw an identical injury on Jungetsu's arm. The zanpakuto spirit seemed not to notice, her expression calm as she waited for Yuzu's next move.

Yuzu's eyes narrowed, and she rushed at her zanpakuto spirit again, darting to the left in an attempt to flank her as she formed a platform under her feet, running in the air. Jungetsu did the same thing, the two of them forming opposite arcs of a circle before rushing at each other, swords clashing again. Yuzu slashed at Jungetsu's torso, but the blow was echoed by the zanpakuto spirit, the swords glancing harmlessly off of each other. She switched her sword to her other hand and reversed the cut, but Jungetsu did the same, the clash of steel ringing as both swords struck each other with equal strength. Yuzu's eyes narrowed, and she looked up above their crossed blades at her zanpakuto spirit.

She could have used kido. If she could use her shikai, she could use an illusion, or one of her projectile attacks. Even a Getsuga Tenshou, properly placed, might have turned this tide. But Jungetsu had asked that the battle be fought with sword alone, and in encounters like this, the zanpakuto spirit made the rules.

Sword alone put her at a distinct disadvantage. It made her have to fight straightforwardly.

And there was no technique in her arsenal that Jungetsu did not already know about.

Their swords slid against each other, steel scraping against steel as they sprang apart in the air again. Both of them slid backwards, eyeing each other before coming together again. Sword clashed uselessly against sword, the two of them springing apart and coming together in the air in several rapid movements. The blades clashed against each other decisively, the two of them springing apart and coming together again in perfect symmetry. As they fought, Jungetsu kept her eyes on Yuzu's, the spirit's expression determined. She didn't seem to notice the wound on her left arm, streaming blood.

"You aren't making this easy, Jungetsu-chan," said Yuzu, breathing hard as their swords slid against each other again, locking into place. Yuzu pushed, and Jungetsu pushed back with equal force, their swords rattling uselessly between them.

"Something like a bankai should never be easy," said Jungetsu, sliding back as their blades slid apart before rushing to close the gap again as Yuzu slashed at her. As she spoke, their blades continued to clash, Jungetsu countering each slash with one of her own. "Hesitation. Weakness. Uncertainty. Fear. Those are your enemies, Kurosaki Yuzu. They are what will defeat you, not our enemy, and not myself. I represent your heart. If you cannot defeat me—if you cannot master me—then what you desire will always be out of your reach."

They sprang apart, sliding backwards in the air. Jungetsu continued to talk, neither of them taking their eyes off the other. "You've said many times that you desire strength to protect those you love," said Jungetsu. "Prove it, then. Show your resolve to me."

"My resolve…" Yuzu's grip faltered, her eyes on her zanpakuto spirit. Jungetsu simply watched her, saying nothing. Her eyes moved from Jungetsu's own, to the wound on her arm, mirroring an identical injury on Yuzu's left arm.

The two of them were evenly matched, Yuzu realized. It was like fighting a mirror. No matter what she did, Jungetsu would counter it. The only way she had managed to injure Jungetsu earlier was by using an attack that left herself open.

The only way she had managed to injure her spirit was by accepting an injury to herself.

She raised her head, her eyes meeting Jungetsu's. "There's only one way this battle can end, isn't there?" she asked.

Jungetsu nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off Yuzu.

Yuzu took a deep breath, gripping her sword in both hands. She pointed it at Jungetsu, feeling her sword shake as she considered what she was about to do. In front of her, Jungetsu mirrored her stance, holding her sword in both hands as well. The blades pointed at each other, the two of them standing frozen in the sky for an instant.

Only one way that this could end…

Show your resolve to me…

She thought of her family, thought of Ichigo and Rukia and the child that they would soon bring into this world. She thought of Karin and Hitsugaya-taicho, of Masaryu and Kohaku. She thought of Seishin, and the way he had looked when walking past them to take his father's place, thought of Ryushin's words to her at his deathbed, the way he had held his hand out for her to take. She thought of Shiyougi and Kawamoto, and all of the friends she had made in the Sixth Division.

She thought of Byakuya lying in bed, of his eyes fixed on hers, not fully seeing her, as she tried to say farewell.

She thought of her father, and took in a breath as she remembered her mother's face, Kurosaki Masaki smiling at her from somewhere deep in memory.

She exhaled, fixing all of those in her mind as her eyes narrowed, her reiatsu pouring off of her in waves. She couldn't fail them. Not here. Across from her, Jungetsu's expression mirrored hers, an identical pulse of reiatsu washing off her zanpakuto spirit.

They had spent years protecting her, without her realizing it. Years supporting her, being there for her, helping her when she was weak. Helping her become strong.

If this was all she could do to protect them in return, then this was what she would do.

She flash-stepped forward, angling her sword at her zanpakuto spirit. Jungetsu did the same, and there was a flash of pain as they came together, Jungetsu's sword slipping right past her defenses to stab her in the heart. Yuzu did the same thing, the both of them hovering in the air for an instant as their blades bit into each other.

Then, there was a pulse of power, and a light so bright that it was blinding.

Byakuya arrived in the training room beneath the Urahara Shop, nearly out of breath. He couldn't remember ever flash-stepping quite that fast. He landed on the ground, his eyes wide as he glanced around, Yuzu's letter still closed in his hand. He had tracked her reiatsu to here, moving as fast as he could through the Kuchiki Clan's Senkaimon and into the Dangai, but now there didn't seem to be any sign of her.

A flash of reiatsu in the distance made him pause, and he turned towards it, his eyes widening.

Yuzu.

He flash-stepped again, crossing the distance in one step and landing on an outcropping of rock. Byakuya paused for a second to look around, feeling for the trace of reiatsu he had followed all this way. There. His eyes narrowed, darting towards it, and he rushed forward, heading towards the crest of the hill.

There were two flashes, and then two people appeared in front of him, a cane rising up to block his way. Byakuya drew himself to a sudden stop, looking to his left and right. Urahara Kisuke stood on his right, his cane raised and his other hand up to hold his hat in place. On his other side, Shihouin Yoruichi stood, her arms folded across her chest. Both of them were smirking at him.

"Did you lose something, Byakuya-bo?" asked Yoruichi.

Byakuya's hand dropped to Senbonzakura's hilt. He had no time for this nonsense. "Out of my way," he said.

"Hastiness will get you nowhere," said Urahara, still smirking. "But if you have to go…" He lowered the cane to the ground, the way in front of him suddenly clear again. "…Go ahead."

Byakuya darted forward, not giving either of them a second glance as he ran towards the top. He stopped suddenly as the space in front of him came into view, skidding to a stop at the edge of the precipice.

The ground in front of him was empty, but the sky was dominated by a structure. It was a white palace, hovering just above the ground. The palace was upside down, its foundations seeming to hover in the air as its stone turrets pointed at the earth. Her reiatsu was everywhere around the structure. He could feel it wash against him, brushing against his skin. As he watched, a door opened in the wall of the palace, the inside glowing with a white light.

He heard two flash-steps and felt Urahara and Yoruichi join him, both of them standing just a few feet behind him.

"…She's in there?" Byakuya asked, his eyes still fixed on the palace.

"She hasn't left," said Urahara in response, resting his cane on the ground. "But I'd be careful if I were you, Kuchiki-taicho. Even I don't know what you'll find inside there."

Byakuya barely heard him. Urahara's words were still hanging in the air when he flash-stepped forward, heading towards that open door.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: The title of this chapter is a reference to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where Princess Kaguya rejects the Emperor to return to the capital of the moon. ^^

Omake

"Yuzu, you should take a break," said a deep voice from the ground next to her. "You look exhausted."

Yuzu lowered her sword, her breath coming in short pants as she blinked sweat out of her eyes. Across from her, Jungetsu lowered her sword as well, the zanpakuto spirit watching her calmly from a few feet away. She wouldn't attack while Yuzu's guard was down. Yuzu knew Jungetsu well enough to believe that, at least. She had been the one leading the action the entire time they had been training down here. Not that it had given her much.

She looked away from Jungetsu, glancing down at the ground where a black cat was sitting, watching her with gold eyes. Yuzu smiled slightly, wiping at her brow with the back of her hand.

"I'm alright, Yoruichi-san," she said. "Please don't worry about me."

"Nonsense." Yoruichi got to her feet, her tail flicking in the air as she padded softly towards where they had left some supplies. "There's no point in training to exhaustion. You should get water, at least."

There was a poof, a cloud of mist surrounding her as her form changed suddenly. Yuzu's eyes widened as a human Yoruichi stepped out of the mist, walking towards the supplies with no apparent concern for her nakedness. "Here," she said, one hand resting on her waist. "I'll get you some water."

"Y-Y-Yoruichi-san!" said Yuzu, the blood rushing to her face. "Your clothes! You need your clothes! What if Urahara-san comes back?!" She looked around frantically, her eyes wide. "Ah! What do I do? What do I do?! Um—um—blanket! Take the blanket!" Yuzu dashed towards the blanket that Urahara and Yoruichi had been sitting on earlier, snatching it up in both hands and preparing to toss it at the woman.

Yoruichi blinked at her, a slightly confused expression on her face as she watched Yuzu run around, her face flushed. As Yuzu grabbed the blanket and moved to throw it at her, realization dawned on her face and she threw her head back, letting out an amused laugh.

"Y-Yoruichi-san?" asked Yuzu, coming to a stop at the sound of the laugh.

"You are related to Ichigo!" said Yoruichi.